Before we go on, here is the reminder for the article published yesterday about upcoming WordPress:
What will we get with WordPress 3.4?

This list is based on the features requested by WordPress community, and things I consider important. This features are in circulation for over a year now, and still most of them are not even mentioned in the future development plans. Problem with most of these features is that they need much more time to do, and current quick development cycles core team insist on are simply not long enough to make these things happen.

• Replacing outdated and no longer maintained ThickBox with jQueryUI Dialog. This is actually something that was in works, and from what I have seen, it should be ready for the next WP 3.5. ThickBox popups are very complicated to control and they lack many features that jQueryUI Dialog popups can do. Replacing them would be great. But, that will also cause all sorts of problems for plugins developers, because most of the code using ThickBox will not be compatible with new popups. Colorbox is also a good way to go to make popups, but I would prefer jQueryUI approach, considering  how much WP relies on jQueryUI already.
• Custom post types posts relationships. This is very, very important feature that will move WordPress in the field of full-fledged CMS systems. Right now, you can’t connect posts directly and with more and more popularity custom post types gain, this is a very important addition. There are several plugins for this, all implementing this differently, but this is something that must be in the WordPress core. This would need additional database table for bridging posts.
• Meta data for taxonomies terms. There was some talk about this, but it was always dismissed when plans for next WordPress were made. Right now all data types in WordPress have meta fields (users, posts, comments) with the exception of terms. It would be very beneficial to have those. This also would require another database table.
• Improved media library. This can be found on most WordPress wish lists on the Internet. I don’t have too many complaints to Media Library, but there are many things that can be improved, including attaching one image/file to more than one post. Other important improvements would include: user controlled folder structure for storing files (not only dates based as it is now), with improved URL rewriting rules that can hide wp-content from the URL. Also, real galleries implementation would be of great benefit for media library.
• Shared resources between sites in multisite. It would be of great benefit to have central media library with assets and images that all multisites can use (logos for instance). Only super admins get to control that, but any site admin can use those resources. Beyond files, sharing can be done for taxonomy terms, maybe even pages and posts to some extent. This can be useful if you have same Terms And Conditions page that any site in the network can use as its own.
• Improved posts management. Right now, posts lists on the admin side are real pain to use when you have large website with thousands of posts. Changing category for hundreds of posts at the time is impossible. We need better system that would allow simpler and more powerful filtering on that page and operations that go beyond current, flawed bulk operations (if you want to bulk edit 10 or 15 posts, you can wait good minute or two before you can do anything, and some browsers can freeze with bulk edit).
• New Taxonomies Terms management. This current is very bad, and if we get meta data for terms, this current interface must be replaced with something that is actually usable for website with large number of taxonomies and terms.
• Real search. Maybe the worst thing in WordPress is absolutely useless search feature. There is no need to explain how bad it is, and how much we need something useful to search posts. We need full text indexing, some search operators, easy set filters for post type, custom fields or taxonomies terms. There are some plugins for this, but this is a feature that should be in the core.
• Remove Akismet from core distribution. Akismet is a commercial plugin, and for most websites, it must be purchased to use. Bundling it with WordPress core is not fair to all the other commercial plugins developers. Considering that many users prefer solutions that work on site only with no remote servers involvement, there are better solutions that Akismet, and also free solutions.

And what we should not see in future WordPress version (for a while at least):

1. We don’t really need new core themes. TwentyTen is great, and TwentyEleven is awful. I would like to see TwentyTen as HTML5 theme and be done with it. From what I have seen of TwentyTwelve, I am not impressed.
2. No more cosmetic admin side changes. We need real changes to posts lists panel, taxonomies terms pages, leave the rest of WordPress admin as it is. It looks great as it is now.

With few teams working only on these features, I think (based on earlier development cycles) that these would take 9 to 10 months (maybe a year) to implement and test properly. Also, having longer beta testing period for it would be beneficial to convince larger group of users to switch to new version when it gets released. And I am sure that powerful set of features would be the best incentive for adopting new WordPress.

What do you think about these features? Would you prefer to wait longer for a WordPress that comes with most of these things, than to waste time on small updates as we have now? Let me know with a comment.

Plugin code is optimized for better memory usage on both admin side and front end. Plugin now uses half the memory it needed with previous version. Fixes in this version include the problem with logging multiple upload errors with same error type and many issues with displaying upload errors. Also, new option to allow forum moderators to see logged upload errors is added.

Options to delete attachments

But, most important new feature is set of options to delete attachments from topics or replies. You can delete or detach (leave it in media library, but no longer with the topic or reply) attachment, and you have options to control what can administrator, moderator or topic/reply author do to delete attachments.

Beside that, few more filters are added for better control of the plugin operations (soon available in documentation). If you notice any problems, please report them in the comments or in the forum. All suggestions are welcome.

Plugin Links:

GD bbPress Attachments Home Page
GD bbPress Attachments on WordPress.org

Plugin Settings

Forum plugin bbPress 2.0 is released, and I am releasing new version of free GD bbPress Attachments plugin with few more interesting features that can help make integration better and more usable with icons for different file types attached to topics or replies and forum icons.

Last few minor revisions were used to add extra features and now that planned set of features is completed (for now anyway) with file types icons for the attachments. Plugin has 17 icons added for this. You can always use your own CSS and you icons to replace those. Expanded plugin settings are on the image on the right.

Forum Attachments

New version can show attachment icon in the forums for each topic that have at least one attachment in the topic or any reply (image on the right). And

And, for each topic or reply, if you enable icons for file types, you will see a list like the image here:

Attached Files

Plugin works with fine with just released bbPress 2.0, and it has no special requirements, since file upload and storage is handled by WordPress media library.

You can download plugin from Dev4Press or from WordPress.org. You have links bellow. If you have any suggestions or bugs to report, you can use comments or the forum.

Plugin Links:

GD bbPress Attachments Home Page
GD bbPress Attachments on WordPress.org

Plugin Settings

Forum plugin bbPress 2.0 is soon to be released, and I expect that many extra plugins will be coming to expand the forums. So, on Dev4Press, here is the first our bbPress expansion to add attachments uploads capabilities to topics and replies. Plugin is available for free.

Forum Metabox

Plugin is very simple to set up and use, and this will make easier later to expand it with more features if needed. Plugin will add Attachments panel in the Forum administration menu where you can set basic settings. All the settings can be overridden for the individual forums via meta box on the forum edit panel.

Topics and replies panels on the admin side are expanded with columns with attachments count. And the admin editors for topics and replies have meta box with list of attachments.

Based on the settings, plugin will add attachment block into the topic and reply forms. Once the topic or reply is saved, plugin will check each attachment and if they are OK, they will be saved in WordPress media library and attached to the topic or forum. And, they will be listed and linked in the topic or reply. Uploading of files is handled by the WordPress built-in functions.

Reply with attachments

You can download plugin from Dev4Press or from WordPress.org. You have links bellow. If you have any suggestions or bugs to report, you can use comments or the forum.

Plugin Links:

GD bbPress Attachments Home Page
GD bbPress Attachments on WordPress.org

Plugin is still in development and bugs are to be expected. Do not use this version on your production website until the final version is released. 3.0 Final is expected next week.

Custom Fields Editor

Metabox Post Editor

Meta Boxes

Meta boxes editor allow for 7 different types of fields (for now). When displayed on the post edit page, these fields can have own controls. So, for image custom field you have options to select image from media library, for date field you will get the date picker. All fields have shortcode button to insert the code for the field into the content. Shortcode allows for the value to be wrapped into the tag with custom class and style. Image also can be displayed as image tag. And meta box works when in side area of the post editor or in the main area bellow the post edit content. There is no limit on how many fields you can add, or how many meta boxes you can have combining different custom fields. Meta boxes can be assigned to default or custom post types, and you can have more than one custom meta box for any post type.

New Interface

Interface is fully rewritten, and more inline with the trend used in all other of our plugins. This includes post types and taxonomies editors and lists displaying differently registered post types and taxonomies. All data is saved using AJAX and that allows for improved validation before saving and better flexibility of the editor.

Post Types List

List shows custom post types created by the plugin, default post types, but also custom post types that are registered by third party plugins or theme. Same layout is used for taxonomies.

Post Types Editor with Errors

Other changes

Another much requested feature was restricted terms selection meta box for post editor. Right now you can add terms through these meta boxes, and in some cases its needed to limit that to only existing terms. Now, you can have that with two box configurations: single and multi terms selection.

Post types specification is updated once more, allowing for selecting menu icon and few other things. JavaScript files used by the plugin are improved and compressed.

What is still missing?

Only feature that is still in work is import and export of the settings. You will be able to export all definitions for post types or taxonomies, settings for the plugin and later import them into another installation. That will be added to final release.

If you want to test it, please report any problems with this current development version. Hopefully, final version is coming soon, depending on the reported bugs. Translation strings on http://translate.dev4press.com/are updated, and few more changes are expected before final release.

Promo coupon

To get 30% discount for this plugin, Dev4Press Plugins Pack or Themes Club Membership (for both standard and developer licenses, coupon is applied to initial payment only): GDCPT3PRO. Coupon remain active until June 4 2011.

More about GD Custom Posts And Taxonomies Tools:

http://d4p.me/gdtt

First important thing is that post types and taxonomies specifications are updated with new capabilities and labels so you MUST update all your custom post types and custom taxonomies and make sure that all new elements are filled, and than save them. Plugin will display notice to remind you to do that after you install new version.

General Changes

Big parts of the plugin are optimized, old code removed and plugin now runs faster, and uses less resources that before thanks to new code division and loading. Also, plugin panels are improved and got new look and better navigation. Front page for the new plugin is on the image bellow. Other changes include updated styling for jQuery UI elements, contextual help links are added (Help tab on the top of each admin page) and several minor fixes.

GD CPT Tools Pro: Front Page

Terms List with Image field

Taxonomy Terms Images

Each taxonomy got a new special feature: attaching images to terms. Image on the right shows the list of categories with image controls. Images are handled by WordPress media library, and you can upload new images or use already uploaded. Plugin handles attach/dettach operations, and provides functions you can use to do it through code and to get image or thumbnail of any dimensions you might need to display in the theme.

xScape Themes can use the images attached directly and display them in the terms lists, or on the archive pages, without any additional coding. Late tonight, new framework and all themes will be updated to use this feature.

Edit any post type or taxonomy

Another major feature is possibility to edit default post types (yes, posts and pages), default taxonomies (categories, post tags) and any other custom post types and custom taxonomies that are not created with this plugin but added some other way. There are two ways to do this: full edit and simple edit. Full edit gives you same level of control as with custom post types and taxonomies and you can change all options.

Post Type Simple Edit

Simple edit allows you to change only some things, for post types: features, taxonomies and special features added by the plugin, for taxonomies: post type and special features added by the plugin. The reason to have two ways of doing this is to give you full control if needed, but I don’t really recommend changing default post types since other plugins and themes may depend on the way they work. Simple edit allows you to add special features plugin adds to those types and taxonomies too.

In any case, I strongly recommend that you check out the video tutorial for this. There will be another tutorial for use of terms images and xScape integration of them, and use of terms images inside any theme through use of functions.

If you have any more problems, please report them in the forum or in comments. Always include exact version of WP you are running, especially if you are using development versions of WP.

GD Custom Posts And Taxonomies Tools:
http://dv4p.com/gdtt

GD Custom Posts And Taxonomies Tools Pro 2.5 will be released this Sunday, with xScape Theme Framework 1.5.7 following on Monday.Basic idea about the new feature is very simple: add images to terms belonging to a taxonomy (any taxonomy including categories and post tags). A while back (two years almost), I have made TVScape.NET website that for taxonomies displays images. Images are pulled from the folder based on the term slug name. It was effective, but it needed a lot of coding. Result is here. Each series is a term in a series taxonomy. It looks really effective, and it is a great addition to website.

Image for Terms

So, GD CPT Tools Pro is adding new special feature that allows you to use WP Media Library and assign images from the library to individual terms. Plugin implement functions you can use in own themes to get the images attached. You can see that on the image on the right.

But, xScape implements all that and can use these images starting with new framework version. Basic templates for taxonomies and for archives are updated to use new features. New options are added to layout manager so you can control what is displayed (display or hide term image, and set it’s size). Getting all that now can be done without a single line of code written using only GD CPT Tools Pro and any xScape theme.

Terms with Images

End result in the taxonomy terms page template is on the image on the left. New template supports paging if you have many terms, and number of terms is controlled from layout manager.

So, in the next few days I will further improve GD CPT Tools Pro plugin and new features include: editing default post types and default taxonomies, improved interface and many more code changes and optimizations. For now, users with Dev4Press Bundle License can get current development version of the plugin from SVN (contact me if you didn’t get your SVN access info). All themes will updated with new framework and will have updated templates. I will publish a video on using the feature in both plugin and theme, and updated documentation to include added functions.

Discounts: I have expanded the Christmas and New Year Discount coupons validity, and they can be used until January 18 2011. So, you can still get big discount for and get both plugin(s) and theme(s) and take advantage of the great features already in them, or coming soon. Coupons are here.

If you have any suggestion about the new feature and how it can be improved, please leave a comment.

All themes will be updated starting later tonight with lightScape. eScape and photoScape will follow tomorrow, rest will be released after that.

Bugs fixed in this version include images related problems both connected to WordPress Media Library. Adding images from Library was broken, and wasn’t returning the image selected. That is now fixed. In multisite installation xScape wasn’t recognizing the local URL’s for the images. Also, that is now fixed.

Theme Login Settings

New feature added to this version is support for styling of the WordPress login page. Not only that xScape will use currently selected style for the theme, but you will be able to set location of some elements as well as set background color and image and way of resizing the background. Also, you can upload own logo to replace default WordPress logo.

Test all themes, and try them with a free test drive, for both front end and back end before deciding what is right for you. Free registration is disabled, so you need to send the request for the test account using the contact form.

Demo Loader: http://xscape.info/load/
Demo Home: http://xscape.info/

From now on, all themes will go through Beta phase before theme is released here. This will help to better test the theme and make it more stable. Also, we can use this period to make new default styles, so you can also suggest color palettes or enhancements.

lightScape Beta features new version of xScape and several new features: Use of WP media dialog to upload or use images from media library, Upload and use default avatar, global settings and improvements to Blueprint support and implementation. Also, several bugs are fixed, mostly with Menu Designer.

xScape.info Demo Website:
http://xscape.info/
lightScape Beta Demo:
http://xscape.info/load/?theme=lightscape

xScape 1.4.2 will have several new features:

• Use of WordPress media manager. With this you can use images you might have in media manager already. This will work for all images used by theme.
• Upload of Gravatar default image to replace default images in WordPress.

lightScape detail

As for lightScape, image on the right shows a detail from one of the current two color styles. This one is called Autumn. You can see transparent content area (this will be used for some styles, not all), and there are two menus. Top header area for now can have menu and search box, and I plan to add rss feeds, twitter and similar links there.

There will be slider on the page, and layout supports one sidebar and one widgets footer area.

So, very soon, all current themes will get new framework, and demo of lightScape goes on xScape by the end of the week.

Book Contents

First chapter contains explanation of basic blog and WordPress terminology, followed by the chapter covering installation of WordPress manually and setting WordPress.com hosted account. Third chapter covers the process of creating posts, tags and category management, advanced posts options, comments and moderation, working with spam and introduction to Akismet plugin.

Pages, links, media library and plugins are covered in the chapter 4, and themes are in the next chapter. Another chapter covers RSS feeds and podcasting. This chapter introduces several interesting plugins that will help you enhance podcasting experience. Another chapter is dedicated to user management and explanations of user roles. Final chapter contains useful information for blog administrators that can help them solve some common problems.

There are three more chapters that are not really meant for beginners and they are covering creating themes and plugins, and using WordPress as standard CMS platform.

The Good

Chapter 3, covering the basics of blogging with WordPress is really excellent and you will find that information here is more useful than in the WordPress Codex documentation. Feeds and podcasting chapter 7 covers basics of feeds, use of Feedburner, adding and displaying feed in the blog and everything you need to start with podcasting blog.

Book introduces several interesting plugins that can help you with podcast, user management and other tasks.

The Bad

There are few things I really didn’t like, and that’s theme and plugins development. Both this topics are not really needed for WordPress beginners, and both require knowledge of PHP (and even MySQL) development. Both plugins and themes are much more complex topics, and here you will find only bits and pieces that will not going to help you if you need something like that. Both theme and plugin development are complex issues and each one deserves a separate book. This book would be much better without these chapters.

Unfortunately for some of the content this book is released too late. WordPress 2.8 is now main release and it’s very similar to WP 2.7, but some differences can be misleading. Such books should be written parallel with development and released as soon as the software is released.

Conclusion

It’s good to see WordPress book for beginners that will introduce WordPress blogging in an easy and understanding way with many screenshots to help along. Experienced users can skip this one, because there is not much they can find here that they already didn’t know. But, I really recommend this book to beginners who are just starting to know WordPress.